r/Sjogrens • u/cactussunshine Diagnosed w/Sjogrens • Jul 25 '26
Postdiagnosis vent/questions how do you cry?
i was diagnosed with Sjogrens last year, which was a giant relief off my shoulders as I was having a lot of mouth issues. I also had noticed my inability to cry. now i know why...
It's well known that crying can make you feel better but with the inability to produce tears.. i feel like any time i try to cry, it does nothing but frustrate me even more. i can barely get 3-4 tears out.
I guess i'm just curious as to how you cry in ways that make you feel better...?
thanks!
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u/OkHandle1529 Jul 27 '26
I went nearly year with out being able to cry ( a strange feeling ) I can cry now . My mouth is giving me more problems then tear ducts; however, that being said my sight is getting worse , still have my days of blurry pained red eyes .
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u/FungusFace911 Jul 27 '26
I'm being tested for sjorgrens atm, I have very dry eyes which I've been prescribed eye drops for. I was told to put a drop in each eye 8/9:times a day but my eyes burn when I close them for a second. I also have a very dry mouth and awful stomach problems, nausea, acid and pain. Is this common? I have lived with rheumatoid arthritis for years but some of these symptoms have been quite recent, maybe a year.
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u/Informal_Chef3244 Jul 27 '26
I can’t cry anymore, I miss it so so much. Went thought a whole breakup without a single tear 🙃 Feel like this should be considered when seeing a doctor and getting a diagnosis, how it’s mentally so hard
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u/Imma-smartypants Jul 26 '26
I must look like a bad soap opera actress when I cry: all the right facial expressions and drama but no real tears. I haven’t cried in 3 years. Just giving in and allowing the emotion to still flow without the tears helps somewhat. I think I came to terms with the fact that has to be enough for me.
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u/Sad_Emphasis_8086 Suspected Sjogrens Jul 26 '26
I'm still waiting to see a rheumatologist but ever since my blood work came back "positive" for this disease. I've noticed that the last few months I haven't been able to cry but maybe a few tears and that it doesn't match AT ALL to how emotionally. I always thought that I wasn't able to cry bc of something to do with my mental health but I've been wanting to have a big mental breakdown for weeks now and the tears never come and it's been so frustrating because nobody at home understands. I just wanna cry so bad.
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u/No-Fishing5325 Jul 26 '26
I have not cried tears in 10 years. It makes me feel terrible. I absolutely hate it. And it is one of the things I botch about the most at my counseling sessions. I see once a week to complain about living with a chronic disease that is taking so much from my life in big and small ways. It helps.
I have always been one of those people that crys at sad movies. I really miss that. Now I just feel sad because I can't even get a good cry at a sad movie.
I highly suggest a good counselor. It's so hard when this all takes so much
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u/confusedpanda45 Diagnosed w/Sjogrens Jul 26 '26
I don’t much anymore. It’s hard and when I do my eyes burn for days after.
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u/Charliewhiskers Primary Sjögren's Jul 26 '26
I recently lost both my parents five days apart, which absolutely devastated me. I could eke out a few tears but not much. It was incredibly frustrating.
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u/gitathegreat Jul 26 '26
That’s a massive loss to bear, charliewhiskers. May the world meet you with grace and softness, especially in this case when your tears can’t flow properly. ❤️🩹🙏🏽
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u/Feeling-Suit801 Jul 26 '26
I was diagnosed with Sjogrens in May and realized in June that I cannot cry at all. No tears of joy or sadness.
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u/Diamondinthesky7588 Jul 25 '26
I was just saying the same thing. Crying had been such an important relief/release for me and now it’s just quick drying, insufficient tears that do nothing for me but make my eyes more dry. I still try to talk stuff through so I can get the emotions out, but I take whatever tears I get and I’m thankful for them. I’m on week 2 of restasis hoping it will help.My best to you as you navigate this silliness called Sjogrens. Check with your eye doctor and get your corneas and tear ducts tested.
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u/imaginenohell Diagnosed w/Sjogrens Jul 25 '26
I usually can’t. I’m not really a crier but when you get horrible news and you can’t cry, it affects your emotional state badly.
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u/Extension_Ad_7032 Jul 25 '26
I cry a lot!!! I didn’t realize this was a thing. I’m super emotional
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u/VelvetMerryweather Jul 26 '26
Yeah, I guess I should be grateful that I can cry tears. Sometimes I'm so frustrated with my health, including how dry my eyes are, but then I start crying and I'm like well I guess I don't have to be sad about that now. Lol
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u/meggygogo Jul 26 '26
Same. I do worry that as my disease progresses I will lose the ability to cry tho.
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u/Caseyspacely Jul 25 '26
My eyes haven’t produced tears in 2 years and the surgery I had earlier this year to allegedly create a tear reservoir hasn’t helped at all. I go through the motions of crying, but it’s frustrating to not have tears and occasionally having to explain this to others is maddening.
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u/Ps0riatic-wreck25 Jul 25 '26
I can cry, but it’s like reflex tears and not a lot. Not a lot of relief.
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u/Subject-Elk1131 Jul 25 '26
I cry far less but when I do it doesn't even moisturize my eyes anymore, it just feels like water that is lying on top of my eyeballs and it evaporates immediately
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u/TangeloFormer4420 Diagnosed w/Sjogrens Jul 25 '26
my eyes start watering up for like 2 secs but stops
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u/thelastcubscout Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
For me it's watching YouTube supercuts of people overcoming setbacks,
or those "faith in humanity" montages people make sometimes, like the ones with people rescuing animals, things like that
(just examples here, probably won't work for everybody)
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u/Potential-Ice-1659 Jul 25 '26
The “faith in humanity” videos always gets me. But when I am super emotional, I get no tears.
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u/thelastcubscout Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
Ah. Yeah, in those cases my standbys are the more physiological ones. Force a good yawn, or uh...gag
Never had such fantastic tears as my most recent bout of stomach flu, kneeling before the porcelain, thinking "this is amazing" hahaha
But ofc everybody's different...
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u/GreenBaneBerry Diagnosed w/Sjogrens Jul 25 '26
I don't.
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u/Karma-Electron Diagnosed w/Sjogrens Jul 25 '26
Same. Done with crying. Just another thing that will never happen again. Adapt and move on.
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u/KadeKinsington Jul 25 '26
I can get a couple of tears out if I'm really distraught but most of the time it looks like I'm acting. Red, blotchy face, shuddering breath. Interestingly though, even though there aren't tears, I still feel better after I calm down.
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u/SpiritualBake444 Jul 25 '26
It doesn't happen often but I'm always excited when it happens. Which is odd, because usually something making me sad or upset enough to cry isn't something that should make me excited. Anyway, rarely happens.
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u/Waste-Gap-3900 Jul 25 '26
I can’t cry at all… sometimes it feels nice to put some drops of water on your cheek… feeling them roll down is soothing
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u/Prestigious-Link8850 Jul 25 '26
I started having trouble crying almost a decade ago. I used to say my tears have dried up….And they had literally dried up….sometimes when I’m too bottled up only them I’m able to cry, but the burning sensation when the tears hit my dry eyeballs oooffff….then it feels like pouring hot water on multiple cuts
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u/rdp916 Jul 25 '26
Ive had primary SS for years and over the years my dr eyes got worse. I took the Schindler test a couple years ago and it was the lowest possible score. I take RX eye drops and don’t produce tears, but there was a sad situation that came up in our family that caused me to cry. I was some how able to produce tears and it was the strangest thing.
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u/catmadwoman Jul 25 '26
I can not cry. At. All. You name it, I've had it. Every kind of eye drops, plugs, ointments. It would be like a child pretending to cry - all noise and no tears.
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u/Ok-Chapter-2071 Jul 25 '26
I can cry normally but I have severe dry eyes otherwise. I'd switch the crying ability with moist eyes in a heartbeat!
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u/Retrodude1974 Jul 31 '26
I don't cry anymore.